Sport-utility vehicles, pickups and minivans will have to meet the same air-pollution standards as cars under an Environmental Protection Agency rule scheduled to be announced today by President Clinton.
By 2007, about 85% of cars and trucks will have to meet the rule. Automakers then will have just two more years to have their largest SUV's and pickups - those that weigh between 6,000 and 8,500 pounds - meet the lower emissions levels. Car companies had asked the EPA for at least four additional years to develop technology to make their beefiest trucks less polluting.
The EPA estimates that the rule will increase the cost of a car an average of about $100 and a truck about $200. Automakers say the price of the heaviest trucks could go up even more because they don't yet know what technology will be needed to meet the rule.
The rule, which closely mirrors an EPA proposal released in May, also sets a standard for sulfur in gasoline, which has an effect on emissions. It's the first national standard that regulates autos and fuels together.
Automakers had fought hard to get oil companies to share the burden of meeting the emissions requirements by producing low-sulfur gas. Lowering sulfur provides cleaner exhaust and improves the effectiveness of pollution-control devices, automakers say.
Sulfur in fuel is expected to be limited to an average of 30 parts per million - far lower than then average 300 ppm found in gas but higher than 5 ppm automakers were seeking. While the average is expected to be 30 ppm, it also is expected that no gas could be sold with a content higher than 80 ppm of sulfur by 2003.
"We're just disappointed that we missed an opportunity for better air quality because EPA didn't move far enough," says Gloria Bergquist, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The EPA "headed in the right direction, but stopped short of attaining the maximum clean-air benefit possible."
An EPA spokesman refused to comment.
Automakers also were apparently rebuffed in their attempt to get a technological review in 2003 and '04 to track the progress they and oil companies were making on meeting the standards.